Radical Beauty, 2019-2021

Radical Beauty, 2019-2021
Radical Beauty – Pamela Joseph
With concurrent exhibit, In Hi-Fidelity – new work by Deb Adams-Welles September 21 – October 23, 2021

Receptions:
Opening Reception, Friday, September 24 (5-8 p.m.)
 
Michael Warren Contemporary (MWC) is pleased to present Radical Beauty – Masks, Veils and Headgear, an exhibit of sculptural reliefs by Pamela Joseph. There will be an opening reception with Pam on Friday, September 24th, 5-8 p.m. We will have concurrent exhibit, In Hi-Fidelity, with new work by Deb Adams-Welles in the Project Space.

Over the last 3 years Pamela Joseph has been creating sculptures of masks and headdresses painted on layers of plexiglass with acrylics and mixed media transfers. The work explores the positive power and celebration of the carnival in our lives:
 
Masks and headdresses are powerful symbols in a wide variety of cultures and groups. By putting on a mask and becoming someone else, the participant enters a sphere that investigates power, identity, and oftentimes gender. Originally inspired by strong women personalities, I began to realize that these “disguises” have a larger significance. As I continued exploring into 2020, and every detail of our lives was overshadowed by the COVID-19 pandemic, the masks in turn projected an alternate meaning of protection and resilience. The sculptures became an exploration of beauty as radical thought. Although some of the pieces contain images of shields and helmets, it is the flower elements, those fragile essences that manifest as the resilient warriors on the metaphorical battlefield.
 
This body of work takes cues from fashion design and features metonyms for cultural resistance to create a celebratory iconography—looking both to the diversity of human cultures and to our shared futures. Drag queens, with their over-the-top make-up and costumes, create masquerades of gender identity that consistently challenge what being feminine means. African artists and tribes have long used masks and apparel to commemorate birth and death in their relationship to the cosmos and to the environment. For the Maya Indians, masks and headdresses were symbols of their gods and a physical way of representing spirits and intimidating their enemies. Mardi Gras Indians create colorfully designed suits and headgear that reflect both their vital musical history and the systemic inequalities that remain prevalent in society. These examples are a few of the inspirations that I drew on to construct the sculptures in “Radical Beauty.” There is no one isolated culture but a blend of spirits that exists
in all of us. ~ Pamela Joseph
 
Pamela Joseph lives and works in Aspen, CO. Joseph is a multi-media artist who addresses ideas of feminist critique and socio- political issues with a sense of humor and incisiveness.

Joseph has exhibited nationally and internationally in locations including New York, Los Angeles, Paris, Barcelona, and Beijing. Her work is in the collections of the Fort Wayne Museum of Art, Fort Wayne, Indiana; University of Colorado Art Museum, Boulder; the University of New Mexico, Albuquerque; the National Art Museum of China, Beijing; the School of Art and Design at Alfred University, Alfred, New York; and Fairfield University in Fairfield, Connecticut; among others. Pamela Joseph is represented by Harvey Preston Gallery in Aspen and Michael Warren Contemporary in Denver.

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MWC presents contemporary artwork with emphasis on materials and process. The gallery also showcases artists in the additional viewing rooms of the gallery. MWC consigns an extensive collection of fine art prints from career artists practicing all over the world.

Michael Warren Contemporary
760 Santa Fe Drive
Denver, CO 80204


Gallery Hours: Tues - Sat: 11-5
tel: 303.635.6255
michaelwarrencontemporary.com
info@michaelwarrencontemporary.com
@michalewarrencontemporary

*Gallery is following protocols required for covid-19

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Radical Beauty: Mask, Veils & Headgear:
Pamela Joseph @ Michael Warren Contemporary, Denver
Michael Warren Contemporary 
September 21, 2021 - October 23, 2021


Lifetime Artists

Lifetime Artists
Lifetime Artists: Michael Warren Contemporary
October 16 - December 19, 2021

Opening Reception, Friday, October 15, 5 pm

McNichols Civic Center Building, 3rd Floor
144 W. Colfax Avenue
Denver, CO 80204

Gallery Hours: Daily 8 am - 5 pm
tel: 720.865.4220

michaelwarrencontemporary.com
info@michaelwarrencontemporary.com
@michalewarrencontemporary

*Gallery is following protocols required for covid-19


Harvey Preston Gallery

Harvey Preston Gallery
Strelitzia Reginae (Bird of Paradise), 2021
Acrylic, gold leaf and mixed media on plexiglass, 26.5 x 19 x 1 in.

"You should see this show. The knives are short and sharp. See how they shine. She shows she is not afraid."
~ Vintage children's coloring book

Masks, Veils and Headgear
GALLERY NIGHT
PAMELA JOSEPH & KEVIN SNIPES

July 13 - August 1, 2021
Opening Reception: Friday 23, 5 - 8 pm

Harvey Preston Gallery
517 E. Hopkins Ave.
Aspen, CO 81611

Gallery Hours:
MON: CLOSED
TUE - FRI: 11 am - 5 pm
SAT: 10 am - 5 pm
SUN: 12 - 5 pm

tel:   970.920.7721
harveypreston.com
info@harveypreston.com

Ruth Bader Ginsburg

Ruth Bader Ginsburg
Ruth Bader Ginsburg "Tribute"
March 15, 1933 - September 18, 2020
Acrylic and mixed media on plexiglass, 29 x 36 x 2 in.

"One cannot legislate love, but what one can do is legislate fairness and justice."
~ Maya Angelou

Into the Rearview Mirror: A look Back at 2020

Into the Rearview Mirror: A look Back at 2020
"Our house is on fire."*
2020
Archival print on hahnemuhle museum etching paper, 24 x 22 in.

*Statement by Greta Thunberg

Commissioners' Choice Spring 2021 Exhibit:
Into the Rearview Mirror: A look Back at 2020.
Curator: Colleen Fanning

Lone Tree Arts Center
10075 Commons Street
Lone Tree, CO 80124

March 3 - May 23, 2021
Opening Hours: Mon - Fri: 10 am - 2 pm

tel: 720.509.1000
lonetreeartscenter.org